Amanda Majeski Biography

AMANDA MAJESKI, bio American lyric soprano Amanda Majeski is rapidly garnering critical acclaim for a voice of “silvery beauty” (Musical America), “ample and expressive” (The New York Times) with “the ability to soar above the staff in long, arching lines and fine down to a thread of pianissimo with seeming effortlessness” (Opera News). Ms. Majeski’s 2017-18 season will see her return to the Metropolitan Opera as Fiordiligi in the new production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte under David Robertson and to Santa Fe Opera for her first performances as the Composer in Richard Strauss’ comic and enchanting Ariadne auf Naxos. Ms. Majeski will also make three high-profile debuts, first bringing her Mozartean expertise to the Paris Opera as Vitellia in Willy Decker’s acclaimed production of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. She then makes her debut with the Hong Kong Philharmonic as Gutrune in Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung conducted by Jaap van Zweden which will be released commercially on Naxos Records as the final installment of their Ring Cycle. She makes her debut at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China as Eva in Kasper Holten’s new production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg conducted by Myung-Whun Chung. In concert, she returns to Philadelphia for her first performances of Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder at Verizon Hall with the Curtis Orchestra conducted by Karina Canellakis. Highlights from last season included Ms. Majeski’s appearance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic last season at the Hollywood Bowl in Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with conductor Gustavo Dudamel, as well as exalted performances as the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at Washington National Opera, Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare at the Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires, Argentina), and as the title role in Stanisław Moniuszko’s Halka at the Bard Music Festival. Ms. Majeski made her Metropolitan Opera debut on the opening night of the 2014/15 season as Countess Almaviva in a new production of Le nozze di Figaro conducted by James Levine, which was broadcast in HD around the world and on PBS across the United States. An alumna of the Ryan Opera Center, she made her mainstage Lyric debut with only a few hours’ notice as Countess Almaviva conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. Named “Best Breakout Star” by Chicago magazine, she has continued her relationship with Lyric audiences as Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and as Marta in The Passenger, hailed as a “shattering, star-making performance” by the Chicago Classical Review. She made her critically acclaimed role debut as the Marschallin in Claus Guth’s new production of Der Rosenkavalier at Oper Frankfurt, where she has also been seen as the Goose-Girl in Humperdinck’s Königskinder, Vreli in Delius’s A Village Romeo and Juliet, and the title role in Dvořák’s Rusalka. Ms. Majeski made her European debut at the Semperoper Dresden where her performances included new productions of Alcina and La clemenza di Tito, as well as revivals of Le nozze di Figaro and Capriccio. Her significant international debuts include the Glyndebourne Festival as Countess Almaviva, Opernhaus Zürich as Marguerite in a new production of Faust, and Teatro Real in Madrid as Vitellia in the much-acclaimed Herrmann production of La clemenza di Tito. In addition to her work in New York and Chicago, she has appeared at Opera Philadelphia as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Pittsburgh Opera as Blanche de la Force in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, and Santa Fe Opera in Vivaldi’s Griselda as Ottone in a production by Peter Sellars. On the concert stage, Ms. Majeski debuted with Sinfonieorchester Aachen singing Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder and Mozart’s Requiem. She has been heard in concert singing Agathe’s arias from Der Freischütz with conductor Erik Nielsen and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the soprano solo in Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the Quad City Symphony. She also sang Gounod’s Marguerite in concert with Washington Concert Opera, Bach’s Magnificat under Sir Gilbert Levine in Chicago, and Mahler’s 4th Symphony with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center. She made her New York City recital debut at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation and returned for her solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall in 2014. Ms. Majeski holds degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and Northwestern University. She was a member of San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, the Gerdine Young Artist Program at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and the Steans Institute at Ravinia. Awards include the George London Foundation Award, First Prize of the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, and a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation. .

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